UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert

UkraineAlert is a comprehensive online publication that provides regular news and analysis on developments in Ukraine’s politics, economy, civil society, and culture. UkraineAlert sources analysis and commentary from a wide-array of thought-leaders, politicians, experts, and activists from Ukraine and the global community. UkraineAlert has become a major publication in Ukraine’s news landscape and has established itself not only through its quality of content but also significant partnerships with English, Ukrainian, and Russian-language media through the country.

Stay Updated

As the world watches the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfold, UkraineAlert delivers the best Atlantic Council expert insight and analysis on Ukraine twice a week directly to your inbox.


editor’s picks

The Future of Ukraine’s Economy

UkraineAlert
Sep 3, 2026

Putin cannot defeat NATO but he could divide and discredit the alliance

By
Peter Dickinson

If Russian President Vladimir Putin decides to attack NATO, his goal will be to divide and discredit the alliance rather than actually defeating it, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict
Defense Policy

The Future of Ukraine’s Economy

UkraineAlert
Aug 27, 2026

Ukrainians are not superheroes with endless powers of resilience

By
Lauren Van Metre, Elena Davlikanova

By celebrating Ukrainian resilience as an almost superhuman quality, the international community risks obscuring the much less glamorous reality that Ukrainians are actually ordinary people who have endured extraordinary violence for far too long, write Lauren Van Metre and Elena Davlikanova.

Civil Society
Conflict

The Future of Ukraine’s Economy

UkraineAlert
Aug 25, 2026

A cultural renaissance is reshaping national identity in wartime Ukraine

By
Davis Richardson

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is fueling a defiant cultural outpouring that is redefining and strengthening Ukrainian national identity in ways that challenge centuries of Kremlin imperialism, writes Davis Richardson.

Civil Society
Conflict

Latest analysis

UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2016

Here’s How to Make Ukraine’s Reforms Irreversible

By
Hanna Hopko

We live in a time of transformations: today, we decide which Ukraine our children will live in tomorrow. But a new Ukraine will be hard to achieve unless citizens with no connections to the old system take action and begin controlling the government and thinking long-term. In 2013, Ukrainians protested to demonstrate that there was […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 21, 2016

Why I’m Pessimistic about Ukraine’s New Government

By
Sergii Leshchenko

President Petro Poroshenko’s passivity in the fight against corruption has restored the old rules of Ukrainian politics and renewed the significance of the oligarchs. They’re his main partners now. The search for a new prime minister is only part of this ignoble process. Over the last two months, Poroshenko has managed to back himself into […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 20, 2016

Time for Ukraine to Assume Rightful Place in Global Energy Market

By
Nataliya Katser-Buchkovska

In the course of its reforms, Ukraine has launched one of its most critical markets, the energy market. The state economy is highly energy intensive, based on fossil fuels, and imports-dependent. After having lost 10 percent of its industrial coal and gas-bearing territories, the government needs to make up for its energy shortage. Meanwhile, lying […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 20, 2016

If Ukraine Finally Gets Visa-Free Travel, Activists Deserve Credit, Too

By
Josh Cohen

The chattering classes in Kyiv remain riveted by the startling revelations from the Panama Papers, the resignation of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and the formation of a new government, but there’s another story that deserves attention. On April 20, the European Union proposed visa-free travel in Europe to Ukrainians. It’s no exaggeration to say that Ukrainians […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 20, 2016

Ukraine’s Finally Got a Cybersecurity Strategy. But Is It Enough?

By
Vera Zimmerman

Ukraine has been battling for its independence not only in the fields of the Donbas, but also in cyberspace. Government networks have been subject to continuous cyber espionage, while other cyberattacks have disrupted a presidential election, blocked access to news media, and engaged in hacktivism and propaganda distribution. Although these attacks initially did not seem […]


Cybersecurity

Russia


UkraineAlert

Apr 20, 2016

Why I’m Optimistic about Ukraine’s New Government

By
John E. Herbst

The past two months have not been favorable for Ukraine’s image in the West. The unnecessary government crisis leading to the ouster of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and his government has meant little progress on reform and lots of attention to politics. The strongest reform ministers—Natalie Jaresko, Aivaras Abromavicius, Oleksiy Pavlenko, and Andriy Pyvovarskiy—left with […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 20, 2016

Shame on You, Netherlands

By
Aaron Korewa

In a recent referendum, the Dutch people rejected the EU-Ukraine association agreement. Or rather, it was rejected by a majority of the just over 30 percent of Dutch people who decided to participate in this—for lack of a better word—joke. On the day of the referendum, a cartoon with the statement, “If you are voting […]


Russia

Ukraine


Bremain vs Brexit

Apr 12, 2016

Ukraine, Let’s Build a Country that the Dutch and All of Europe Will Embrace

By
Hanna Hopko

Shall we live the old way? What are the lessons for the government of Ukraine from the referendum in the Netherlands? Let’s begin with gratitude to the hundreds of colleagues and friends who in recent days worked to urge the people of the Netherlands to support Ukraine in the referendum. We lost and Holland lost too. […]


Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 12, 2016

“Putin’s Not Finished,” Warns Former Defense Official Evelyn Farkas

By
Diane Francis

On April 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin suddenly announced creation of a National Guard, of up to 400,000 personnel, to control drug trafficking and terrorism. But former Pentagon adviser Evelyn Farkas has a different take: “I see this as riot control.” Putin is distracting attention from bad economic news, due to sanctions, she said. “This […]


Russia

Ukraine


UkraineAlert

Apr 12, 2016

In Odesa, Protesters Demand that Poroshenko Restore Reformist Prosecutor

By
Vladislav Davidzon

Several hundred protesters have camped out in front of the regional prosecutor’s office in Odesa for the past two weeks demanding that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko reinstate reformist Deputy Prosecutor General Davit Sakvarelidze, who also concurrently held the post of regional prosecutor of Odesa. Sakvarelidze’s replacement, Nikolai Stoyanov, has held the position twice before, including […]


Ukraine

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spotlight

Resilience in the face of adversity

Ukraine’s transformation

Ukraine has moved tentatively toward an open society and market economy since independence. The country has held several democratic elections and made halting progress in addressing corruption and state control in its economy. Since the 2014 Maidan Revolution, Ukraine has undertaken significant governance and economic reform and moved decisively toward a Europe-Atlantic foreign policy. Since 2022, Ukraine has resiliently continued to advance some reforms despite fighting for its very existence against the full-scale Russian invasion.

Learn more about Ukraine

The Future of Ukraine’s Economy

UkraineAlert
Dec 5, 2024

Ukraine’s entrepreneurial class can drive the country’s economic recovery

The Ukrainian SME sector has demonstrated remarkable wartime resilience and is poised to be at the forefront of efforts to create a modern, innovative, postwar economy, writes Anton Waschuk.

Read More

The Future of Ukraine’s Economy

UkraineAlert
Oct 1, 2024

Ukraine needs international investors to maintain defense tech momentum

By
Mykhailo Fedorov

Ukraine’s rapidly expanding defense tech sector can play a game-changing role in the war against Russia but Ukrainian companies need international investment, writes Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.

Artificial Intelligence
Conflict

The Future of Ukraine’s Economy

UkraineAlert
Jun 13, 2024

Ukraine officially embraces English as historic westward pivot continues

By
Oleksiy Goncharenko

By officially embracing English, Ukrainians aim to support their country’s historic pivot away from Moscow and return to the European community of nations, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Civil Society
Conflict

The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.

The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values, and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia, and Central Asia in the East.

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Content

UkraineAlert

Dec 19, 2016

The Future of Ukraine’s Economy

By Melinda Haring

“What we need most of all is the end of hostilities,” said Martin Sajdik, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and the Trilateral Contact Group on the implementation of the peace plan in eastern Ukraine, at an event about Ukraine. “Without international assistance from the EU, from the United States, from Japan…I don’t […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 19, 2016

Ukraine Nationalizes its Biggest Bank. Here’s Why This Is a Good Thing

By Anders Åslund

On December 18, the Ukrainian authorities nationalized PrivatBank, the country’s biggest bank. This decision may mark the end of the banking crisis in Ukraine. PrivatBank accounts for one-fifth of all Ukrainian banking assets and half of payments. It is the dominant bank for small and medium-sized businessmen, but about 70 percent of its lending is […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 15, 2016

Russia’s ‘Active Measures’ Are Back with a Vengeance

By Amanda Abrams

The issue of Russian hacking of American email accounts in order to influence the US presidential election reached new heights this week. President Barack Obama ordered the intelligence community to conduct a full review of Russia’s interference in the elections before he leaves office on January 20, and Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham announced […]

Cybersecurity Russia

UkraineAlert

Dec 13, 2016

Q&A: What Does a Friend of Putin at Foggy Bottom Mean for Ukraine?

By Melinda Haring

President-elect Donald Trump has picked ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state. In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally bestowed Russia’s Order of Friendship on Tillerson. As CEO of ExxonMobil, he’s argued for sanctions relief on Russia. By October 2016, some reports estimate that Exxon has lost $1 billion because of White House […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 12, 2016

Swedish Tech Entrepreneurs Find Top Talent and Warm Welcome in Ukraine

By Diane Francis

Gustav Henman describes his time at Moscow State University as a “Russian cold shower.” But he was no stranger to cold weather as a Swede, and has ended up in Ukraine, where the weather is slightly more moderate and the engineering talent plentiful. He and his business partner, Andreas Flodström, went to Ukraine in 2012 […]

Northern Europe Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 7, 2016

Beware of the Russian Bear in the Balkans

By Harriet Salem

On October 16, just hours before Montenegrins were due to head to the polls, the government made an alarming announcement. It claimed security services had foiled a Russian nationalist attempt to seize control of the parliament and assassinate Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic (who has since resigned). The Kremlin undoubtedly has an axe to grind with […]

Russia The Balkans

UkraineAlert

Dec 7, 2016

Sanctions on Russia Need More Teeth

By Sergey Aleksashenko

It has been more than two years since the European Union and the United States imposed economic sanctions on Russia for its aggression in Ukraine. How effective have the sanctions been? According to US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland in 2016, sanctions were meant to “press Moscow to bring an end to the violence […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 6, 2016

Trump, Brexit, and the Myth of Ukrainian Nationalism

By Peter Dickinson

The election of Donald Trump to the US presidency is the latest indication that the liberal globalist consensus of the post-Cold War era is finally over. The sanctity of political correctness has been shattered and we now find ourselves hurtling headlong into the uncharted territory of anti-establishment populism. Trump’s triumph is part of a broader […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 5, 2016

There’s More to DC Fashion than Gray Suits and More to Ukraine than War

By Melinda Haring

Vogue cannot get enough of Ukraine’s new designers and eye-catching traditional designs. Since the Euromaidan, the magazine has covered the country’s hot fashion scene half a dozen times. On November 30, seven of Ukraine’s designers were on display at a fashion show in Washington, DC, “to celebrate Ukraine’s creative culture,” said Alexa Chopivsky, executive director […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

Dec 5, 2016

“Ukraine Is Approaching the Turning Point: The Choice Is Reform or Chaos,” Saakashvili Warns

By Diane Francis

Former Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili’s opening remarks at the Kyiv Post’s Tiger Conference on November 29 were puzzling. “Thanks for a couple of cameras,” he said. He was referring to the fact that even though he is a national figure with a resonant message in Ukraine, he’s the victim of a news blackout by the […]

Ukraine
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